Writer. Maker. Reader.

Time Off to Renew Creativity

For a long while, I’ve been a firm believer in taking time off to restore creativity. In fact, I’ve named this space in time “Creative Downtime.” Problem is, I’ve had absolutely NO creative downtime in the last 5 years. I think that’s why I’m itching so badly–my mental blocks have boiled to the surface and are literally making me sick.

Why no creative downtime? That’s easy–I’m the sole financial support of four people, one of whom is a teenager and that’s the same as saying I have a hole that I throw money into. And for those of you who’ve already raised teens, you know that this isn’t going to get better for me for many years (think car, insurance, proms, college, etc.).

But the truth is that whether I can afford it or not, I desperately need CREATIVE DOWNTIME without all the stress and routine of my normal life. I’m not sure how this is going to happen for me but I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

If you don’t buy into this idea, watch this video from the folks at TED. World-renowned designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his design studio in NY for an entire year every seven years. He uses these 12 months to “rejuvenate and refresh his creative outlook.” So don’t believe me–there are seriously good creative types who agree that creative downtime is a necessary component to our ability create.